Corporate diners are helping bring back the long lunch, with EatClub, the hospitality start-up backed by celebrated chef Marco Pierre White, emerging as a popular tool for booking cut-price meals.
The EatClub app, which promotes live restaurant discounts in real time, has reshaped how business lunches are organised by making discounted dining feel discreet rather than awkward.
Last Friday, the Daily Mail found hundreds of restaurants and bars across Melbourne’s CBD advertising offers through the platform.
Deals typically ranged from 20 to 50 per cent off menu prices, with alcohol included in the savings, giving diners the chance to enjoy a bargain-priced liquid lunch.
Yet while EatClub is an obvious win for cash-conscious diners chasing cheap eats, it is also allegedly being used by some staff to mislead unsuspecting employers when claiming meal reimbursements.
The app works in place of the diner’s credit card, appearing to unsuspecting wait staff as if the diner is paying using their ordinary phone-enabled credit card.
The rort works because the diner receives a receipt for the full ticketed amount of the order, with the app later applying the discounted amount in the background to the user.
The Mail successfully trialed the process on a Friday afternoon at a popular Melbourne watering hole.
The app works in place of the diner’s credit card, appearing to unsuspecting wait staff as if the diner is paying using their ordinary phone-enabled credit card
EatClub is backed by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White (left), who appeared on Australia’s MasterChef series (pictured)
In the name of public interest journalism, our reporters put the system through its paces, eating and ordering drinks as any selfless investigator would.
At the end of the meal, an unsuspecting staffer processed payment via the app and issued a full paper receipt.
That receipt was used to lodge a reimbursement claim with the Mail’s accounts department, which promptly approved the entire bill.
What the bean counters didn’t realise was that $48.53 of the $219.60 bill was returned to the payer, meaning the staffer not only dined for free but pocketed a profit.
The trick also works for diners splitting bills, with EatClub users able to pocket the discount from unwitting ‘mates’.
The Daily Mail contacted EatClub for comment, but received no response.
EatClub is not accused of any wrongdoing. It is a legitimate dining-discount app that partners with restaurants and bars to offer time-based promotions to customers. This article does not suggest EatClub or participating venues are acting improperly. Rather, it examines how some diners may be using receipts generated through the platform to claim reimbursements from employers for more than they actually paid.
While news of this unintended loophole is unlikely to bother the club or its growing clientele, the app’s success has divided restaurants and venues offering the deals.
Lunchtime on Friday saw Melbourne’s CBD flooded with discounted dining offers on the EatClub app
The app was originally created to help restaurants fill tables during quiet periods.
The Melbourne-based start-up launched in London in May last year and is already booming in Manchester.
But as its popularity explodes across Australia, many restaurateurs now say they feel forced to subscribe or risk going out of business.
The Mail has been told by several venue owners that offering discounts during off-peak hours to attract customers has led to dependency and shrinking profit margins.
EatClub reportedly takes a 10 per cent cut of the diner’s bill and charges a monthly fee of $50–$60 to participating venues.
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Venue owners now complain that customers often misuse the system by bringing more people than the voucher allows, resulting in financial losses for restaurants.
A co-owner of one of Melbourne’s largest hospitality groups said their group had joined the app only because they felt pressured, fearing they would lose business otherwise.
‘We are on it but we don’t like it. It’s actually costing us money to be on it but if we don’t we’ll lose business completely,’ the hospitality boss, who did not wish to be named for fear users of the app would ‘blacklist’ their company’s venues, said.
The Daily Mail’s Paul Shapiro (right) and Wayne Flower (left) tested out the app and found the system worked a treat
Food and booze were discounted using the app, but were able to be claimed back in full from unsuspecting Daily Mail accounts staff
Corporate fat cats are dining out with the app and claiming back more than they actually paid
‘We do feel the pressure to be on the app and give the discounts because everyone else is, but there needs to be something done because no one will be able to survive if we give 30, 40 per cent off bills.
‘We get to choose what times we allow the discount and it’s generally during periods where we are usually quiet, but I fear it may turn into a situation where we will have to give discounts during peak periods and that is alarming to think about, considering the current climate for small to medium business operators.’
That fear appeared largely realised on a Friday afternoon in Melbourne.
‘Thing is when they first come in, they say there are rules. If they break any rule, you don’t have to honour the voucher. But as you get into it, the first response was, “Ah, yeah, we’ll look into it,”‘ another restaurant manager told Daily Mail.
‘There were delays. They haven’t refunded the money. Then they said, “Look, yeah, we’ll refund this one”. Then it happened multiple times … It’s not sustainable for us to do this. So they were basically saying we have to wear it.’
The manager said he was aware of diners using the club to exploit not only their employers, but friends.
‘But the other thing we’re getting is, let’s say you two come in for a dinner. You say, “Oh, mate, I’ll bring you. I’ll take you there for a dinner.” And this guy knows about EatClub, whereas you don’t know he knew about it. You pay with EatClub and you still charge him 150 bucks. Because he doesn’t know,’ he said.
‘Because we see people bringing a group of five or six, and the lady goes, “Oh, you guys just go. I’ll pay the bill. You guys can transmit to me later.”‘
The app was accepted at all kinds of eateries across Melbourne during the peak lunch break
Discounted booze and food were easily on hand for reporters Paul Shapiro and Wayne Flower on a busy Friday afternoon in Melbourne
Payment looks exactly like it does when you use an ordinary credit card on your phone
Pubs and fast food outlets all offered discounted options across Melbourne on a busy Friday
The Daily Mail contacted the Australian Tax Office about the potential for misuse of the app, but the ATO responded that corporates should not be claiming meal expenses under any circumstances.
‘Client lunches are usually considered entertainment expenses which are not deductible, even when they involve work-related discussions,’ a spokesperson said.
‘The cost of food and drink during normal work hours is considered a private expense and not deductible.
‘Taxpayers are required to keep accurate records and can only claim deductions they are entitled to under the law. Claims that are false or misleading may result in compliance action by the ATO.’
The Mail repeatedly contacted the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry about the app’s potential for misuse, but received no response.